Chouji the Hero
by showxliexmad
Summary: Chouji in the past...even though it feels like nobody believes in him, can Chouji prove to everyone that he can do things right?


**Authors Note**-This isn't what happens in the episode; I changed it a lot... Also it takes place when Chouji+Shikamaru are kids. But Naruto and Sakura and Sasuke are all normal aged -nods- And I'm sorry if I spelled Chouji's name differently each time I said it o.o;; And I was gonna say something else...but...I...don't remember D: D: D:

* * *

Chouji sighed. '_Another day, all by myself._' It was almost a week now since the day all the other boys decided to not even talk to him anymore, let alone play any fun games. Well they never actually said that, but he felt left out whenever he was with them. He couldn't run as fast as the other boys, so he always lost. He could still hear their voices inside his head. "_We don't want Chouji on our team_", "_Let's just play with three people. We'll have a better chance of winning without Chouji._", "_Chouji always makes us lose. Always_". 

A single tear fell down his cheek. He knew, deep down inside, that maybe he did make whatever team he was on lose. Maybe he was just a bunch of bad luck without any skill. Maybe someone like him doesn't deserve any friends...

Chouji sat up on his futon and rubbed his eyes. Fully awake, he looked out the window. It seemed like a great day out. The sun was shining bright, the birds and butterflies, maybe one of them was the one he saved the other day, were flying around without a care in the world, and...children were running around. Playing. Having fun. With their friends.

Before letting the feeling of lonliness settle in all the way, he ran to the next room, his kitchen. "What's wrong Chouji?" his dad, Akimichi Chomaru, asked. "Why haven't you been hanging out with your friends lately?" Chouji paused. He hadn't told his father why yet. "Well..." He moved over to sit with his dad. "Nobody likes me," he said quietly. "They all make fun of me and say I make everybody lose. And it's ture". Chouji felt the hot tears run down his cheeks. "Don't worry Chouji," his dad said comfortingly. "You have so many good traits. You're the nicest person in the village, you're very strong, and you like to eat." He let out a laugh. Chouji wiped the tears away and smiled too. "You're right" he said with confidence. His dad continued, "Soon, you'll find a special friend who'll like you for who you are and you guys will always be together. So go find everyone right now. Try to hang out with them. And always give everything a chance. Who knows? Maybe everyone will learn to like you and have respect for you. So go out, have some fun!"

* * *

With his dad's words still ringing in his head, Chouji approached the riverbank. That's were all the boys were hanging out today. 

"Hey Chouji! Wanna play with us? We have Naruto's ninja headband!" One of the younger kids had invited him to play with them. "No, wait, don't invite him!" someone else said. "He'll probably end up losing it." The kids snickered.

Chouji looked down at the ground, feeling a little hurt. "Hey don't worry about them." One of the boys, who wasn't laughing at him earlier, walked towards him. "I'm Shikamaru," he said, as he held out his hand. "I just moved here a couple of days ago." Chouji took his hand. "I'm Chouji," he replied, smiling. '_Maybe this Shikamaru person will be my first friend'_, he thought happily. So far, Shikamaru was probably the nicest person he had ever met.

"Hey you guys! Look at me! I'm a ninja!" One of the guys was wearing the headband and was now running around. "KAGE MANE NO JUTSU!" Shikamaru started to make him dance and do backflips in the air. Everyone was laughing. '_That was cool_', Chouji thought in his head. "Itaii...that hurt" the guy exclaimed, he seemed to be the leader of the little group. He pretended to moan and cower in pain.

"Ne...I didn't even try to hurt you," Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I was just kidding anyways," The guy got up and shrugged. He took the headband of and then threw it to Chouji. "Here," he said. "You can play with it."

Chouji reached out to catch it but he missed and it hit the floor. He blushed as he bent down to pick it up. Some people laughed at him. "Erm... I don't think I should..." "Aww c'mon Chouji! Just put in on." _'I'm probably going to break it or something_', he thought sadly. But reluctantly he put it on, '_I'm giving everything a chance_', he thought to himself, '_Just like my dad wanted me to_'.

"Chouji look out," Shikamaru screamed, too lazy to try and stop the attack that was now headed to Chouji. Chouji reacted too slow and it hit him, making him fall into the river headfirst.

Everyone laughed as Chouji came out of the water, soaking wet. He was panting hard, he thought he was going to die! "Chouji," one of the guys said between laughs, "You're so funny!" Chouji shivered a little, it was cold, but instead of crying or feeling bad about himself, he laughed too. '_I'm funny_,' he thought proudly.

Storm clouds began rolling in. "Guys, I think should better go back now," someone said. "Nah, let's play in the rain!" the leader insisted. "Ne, where's the headband?" Everyone went silent. "Chouji had it last!" someone pointed out. Everyone looked at Chouji. Chouji blushed, embarressed a little. He /did/ have it last..."I don't have it," he defended. "Last time I saw it was when I...fell...in...the river..."

Everyone gasped. "Look it's still there!" Shikamaru pointed at it in the distance. "But soon the current will carry it away,". The leader looked annoyed. "Well go get it! Before it flows away and Naruto finds out we took it without his permission.". The first boom of thunder could be heard nearby. The sky was getting darker...

"Hurry up and get it! A storm is coming!" he commanded once more, a little impatient now. "I'm not going in! I'm too lazy to find it and I can't swim very well," Shikamaru protested. The leader turned to Chouji. "You get it Chouji! You're the one that left it there!"

But it was too late. Someone had already pushed Shikamaru intot he water. "Help! Somebody! Chouji! Anybody!" he shouted. Some people laughed. "You want /Chouji/ to help you? You're doomed! You have a better chance of living without him!" Another boom of thunder. This time it was closer, louder, more powerful...

"Shikamaru! Who cares about your life? Like they said, if Chouji goes in you'll die either way! Just go get the headband or else we'll be dead too!" "Who cares about the headband?" Shikamaru whined. "I'm going to die!"

Chouji started to feel sick. What if Shikamaru, one of the only people who was nice to him, the only person who he considered to be his friend, died? It wasn't fair that such a cool person like him deserved to suffer like this. "I want to save him," he said to himself. "But what if they're right? What if he has a better chance of living without me? What if I just make things worse when I try to save him?"

One of the boys heard him. "You think you have chance Chouji? I'm surprised you could even float when you got out! I mean, you're just a big, fat loser!" Chouji hesitated. The little confidence he had drained away. '_I /am/ a big fat loser,_' he realized. He couldn't do anything right. From hide and seek to just plain running around and playing tag, he always lost, always did it wrong, always was to blame. It started to rain. Hard.

"Help!" Shikamaru shrieked again. "I'm getting taken by the current!" Chouji heard Shikamaru's pleas and then remembered his father's advice. '_Always give everything a chance. Who knows? Maybe everyone will learn to like and respect you in the end_'.

"Shikamaru! I'm coming!" Chouji yelled. Who cares if he isn't able to save Shikamaru? At least he tried and they'll be together...

"Who cares about them?" Chouji could hear the leader in the distance. "Shikamaru's probably not going to make it because of Chouji. Plus it's raining hard now and we'll get in trouble if our parents find out we're here. If Naruto asks, we'll just say that Chouji and Shikamaru took the headband and we tried to stop them, but we couldn't find them anymore..." his voice drifted away as Chouji was carried down the river.

Chouji shivered. The water was freezing cold and it was raining very hard. The unusually strong waves blocked his view and the rain and darkness made it even harder for him to see. "Shikamaru!" he yelled. "Chouji!" Shikamaru answered. "I'm over-" It sounded like he choked on water. "-here!"

"I'm coming Shikamaru!" he yelled. He swam against the tide, accidently swallowing water. His arms were getting very tired, but he finally found Shikamaru's body. Pulling his limp body to the land, Chouji feared for the worst. "Please be okay," he whispered to himself. "Please, just this once, let me do something right."

Shikamaru started coughing. "Shikamaru! You're okay!" Chouji exclaiemd. Shikamaru coughed again. "Chouji," he whispered, weakly. "You...you saved me" He coughed once more. The happiness for his friend being all right, the shock from him doing something right, the cold water and the rain...it all made him cry.

Shikamaru noticed his friend's tears. Concerned, he asked "What's wrong?". "Y-y-ou're all right," he stammered between tears. Shikamaru smiled and slowly he sat up and gave his friend a hug. Eventually Chouji stopped crying, but he now realized how cold he was. His clothes were again soaking wet, but so were Shikamaru's. He moved away from the hug. "You stay here...I have to go find Naruto's headband so they won't get in trouble"

"You're going to help them even though they were mean to you?" Shikamaru asked, surprised. "Yes...I guess so," Chouji replied uncertainly. "Wouldn't you?". Instead of answering, Shikamaru reached inside his pocket, looking for something. Chouji waited. Soon he took out... "The headband!" Chouji exclaimed. Shikamaru smiled. "Yeah...I was able to get it once I fell in, but I only remembered about it now." The rain started to get lighter...

"There they are!" Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura emerged from behind the trees, followed by the children who were playing with Chouji and Shikamaru earlier, and Chouji's dad was there too. "We heard about what happened to you guys and we've been looking all over for you! Are you guys alright?" Sakura asked. She handed them a nice warm blanket. They both nodded.

"My headband!" I've been looking all over for it!" Naruto grabbed his headband from Shikamaru and put it on. "Thanks you guys!". "Not to mention Chouji was able to save Shikamaru from the river," Sasuke added.

"Hmmm...you guys deserve a prize! Here's a bag of chips!" Naruto threw a bag of chips to Chouji, who caught them perfectly. Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped. "Chips?" Sasuke asked, not impressed. "What kind of prize is that?"

"Yayy! He caught them!" the kids cheered for their new hero."You finally did something good Chouji! And Shikamaru's A-OK and we have the headband". Chouji, proud of himself, smiled. '_I proved to everyone that I can achieve things_', he thought to himself.

"Maybe now he can play games with us!" "Yeah tomorrow let's do something" Their voices became distant as they started to go back. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura trailed behind them. Shikamaru stood up, "I'm going back now too". He waited for Chouji to join him. "No...it's okay, I'll catch up with you later." Shikamaru went back with the group as Chouji waved bye to him. Shikamaru saw him and smiled.

Chouji's dad sat down next to him now. Holding as he held his son close, Chouji closed his eyes as his dad gently whispered the small, but important words, well at least they were to Chouji. "You did it Chouji."


End file.
